Please note that I have seen every episode of Lassie as listed in this guide. Therefore, although the titles and dates of these episodes have been gleaned from other sources (as cited on the contents page to this episode guide), any description and comments are mine.

Ron Hayes left the series without fanfare at the beginning of season nineteen
(reportedly he complained to the producers that the role didn't leave him enough
to do) to be replaced by Larry Pennell, playing Garth's brother Keith. In a nice
touch, instead of just throwing him into the "one big happy family" situation, the
introductory episode has the boys not quite sure what to make of this "replacement"
for Garth.

(NOTE: Since the series was in syndication, it appeared on different days/dates
in different parts of the country. The dates that follow are the New York City
telecast dates.)

"Lightning" (09/16/72):

After a bolt of lightning fells a tree and injures a young horse's mother, Lucy
and Lassie pursue the colt, who escapes through a break in the fence. They've already
found him and are heading back to the Holden Ranch when a rabbit spooks the foal,
who bolts immediately toward the river. Will Ron and Dale reach them in time? Sue:
Joan Freeman. Andy: Mark Miranda.

"The Doves of Santa Inez" (09/23/72):

Lucy and Lassie walk to Solvang to visit Johann, who tends the garden at the
mission Santa Inez. The elderly man worries because the doves who usually nest on the
mission grounds in summer have not yet arrived; on their way home, Lucy and Lassie
see a hawk attack what is probably the scout dove. Despite Johann's nursing, the
dove cannot fly, so Lassie hunts out the flock herself. But how to get them to
follow her back to the mission? Johann: Jan Rubes.
 Note: This episode owes a tip of the hat to the earlier
"Swallows of Los Pinos," where Timmy nurses a scout swallow for a flock that annually
returns to an old mission. Doesn't Johann's truck look like Paul Martin's truck
repainted white?

"For Those Who Follow" (09/30/72):

Garth startles all the boys by sending a letter just before he leaves for Spain
on an 18-month mission to help other countries form similar boys' ranches. His brother
Keith arrives to take charge of the ranch and is met with resentment, especially by
Dale, but he proves his mettle when a fire that spreads from a campsite traps an
injured Lassie in the woods. Andy: Mark Miranda. Lane: Stuart Lee. Mike: Josh Albee.
 Trivia: Keith Holden worked in inner-city neighborhoods
as part of Vista. Mike is collecting rocks for a school project. The fire has broken
out on Pine Ridge.
 Note: There's a brief scene from an earlier ranger
episode that shows firefighting trucks arriving at a base location. It's from "Holocaust,"
a story that, ironically, features Ron Hayes as the guest star.

"Scarecrow" (10/14/72):

A clever crow not only ignores the "stay away" warning communicated by the scarecrow
that Mike, Andy, and Lane put up in their vegetable garden, but flies away with Mike's
wallet. When the boys go looking for the crow, Mike's chase leads him to the top of a
water tank—where he loses his balance. In the meantime, Keith introduces himself to Lucy
Baker and invites her to a barbecue.
 Note: Lucy's mother is working late and never does attend
the barbecue.

"A Girl and a Boy" part 1 (10/21/72):

A small deaf boy wearing a space helmet is found wandering the grounds of the ranch.
He resists all efforts of Keith and Lucy to befriend him, telling Lucy via sign language
that no one, even his father, wants him, until he and Lassie find an injured German
Shepherd. As the wounded dog heals, the child begins to blossomuntil the dog
suddenly turns vicious. Boy: Moosie Drier.

"A Girl and a Boy" part 2 (10/28/72):

The small deaf runaway is crushed when two sheriff's deputies come to take the German
Shepherd, a trained attack dog, away; he tearfully tells Lucy that, despite their
friendship, he has nothing of his own. But Lassie, a small puppy in a pet shop, and the
two deputies are about to change that. Boy/Tommy Walters: Moosie Drier. Mike: Jim
Antonio. Jerry: Bill Mullikin. Father Lavery: Gary Clarke. (Art, the pet shop owner,
is not credited.)
 Trivia: The German Shepherd's name is Thunder, a trained
police attack dog. Tommy ran away from San Anselmo's School for the Deaf, five hundred
miles away (Tommy hitched a ride in a truck), where he had become very attached to
Father Lavery after his parents died. He had run away because Father Lavery was planning to
go to South America to work with the deaf there. The puppy was actually priced at $60;
Art let him go for $7.95. Tommy names the puppy "Lucy" despite her telling him it's a
girl's name.

"Deadly Surf" (11/04/72):

Following a seagull to spend a day on the beach, Lassie is distracted by a box
of "free kittens" (one white, one black, one gray tabby) who are attacked by an
aggressive dog, which she chases off. The gray kitten is easy for Lassie to corral,
but then she must rescue the white kitten from the surf and the black kitten from
being chased yet again by the aggressive dog.
 Trivia: The kittens are being given away by Jack of Jack's
Fishing Supplies.
 Note: Jack isn't credited; it's possible he's played by
Donald Spinney, who trained the kittens. The scenes of Lassie rescuing the white
kitten in the surf and with it in the cave are from the season 15 episode "Out
of the Frying Pan." You can clearly see the collie playing Lassie isn't "Hey Hey,"
but Mire in those scenes.

"Golden Eagle" (11/11/72):

Lassie steps in when the female eagle in an eagle's nest she's been observing
is shot. She leads Keith and Ron to the bird, but Sue Lambert cannot save her.
When Keith supplies Lassie with meat to give to the male eagle, a crow tries to
invade the nest when the eagle flies after the meat and a coyote then makes off
with the food. When Lassie attempts a second try, she instead uses the food to
entice a lone female eagle to the nest. Sue: Joan Freeman.

"A Taste of Freedom" (11/18/72):

Lassie and an aspiring racehorse named Rascal become fast friends after she
goes in pursuit of the frightened stallion when he escapes his horse trailer
after being spooked by a reckless driver. But will Rascal ever settle down to
serious training? Mr. Dobbs: Douglas Fowley. (The jockeys are not credited.)
Midnight trained by Robert Davenport.
 Note: It looks like Rascal and Lassie have a crush
on each other; they have daydreams about running loose with each other in country
fields! Rascal is left to board at the Holden Ranch, yet you never see him again,
and later Midnight, the former lead stallion of the wild horse herd, is brought back
in several episodes. Since both horses are black, and trained by the same trainer,
I'm going to assume it's the same horse.

"Run to Nowhere" part 1 (11/25/72):

Lucy brings Joey, a runaway from Los Angeles who had a narrow escape from a
railroad trestle, to the Holdens, where the family tries to make the distrustful
boy feel comfortable. He's just starting to relax when Lane and Andy chaff him
about being a tenderfoot and then he overhears Keith talking to the police. Andy:
Mark Miranda. Lane: Stuart Lee. Joey Greer: George Spell.
 Trivia: Keith bunks Joey in Mike's room, stating
that Mike is away at a 4H fair.

"Run to Nowhere" part 2 (12/02/72):

Joey, having heard only part of Keith's conversation with the authorities in Los
Angeles and thinking they are sending him back to the institution he was in, has run away.
Keith, Dale, Ron, and Lucy set after him with Lassie trailing his scent, but she
soon loses him and the Civil Air Patrol becomes involved. Joey: George Spell.
(The CAP pilot and administration are uncredited.)

"Vigil of the Stork" (12/09/72):

When Lucy, Carl and Lassie give chase after a stork escaped from the wild animal
sanctuary, Carl suffers a heart attack. Having listened to all Carl's stories about
how lucky storks are, Lucy sees it as an hopeful omen when Lassie is able to lead
the stork back to the hospital. Dr. Sheehan: Frank Whiteman. Sue: Joan Freeman.
 Trivia: Carl is hospitalized at the Santa Ynez Valley
Hospital.
 Note: A nice bit of nostalgia happens when Lassie leads
the stork out of the woods, past the animal park, and to the hospital; the background
music is very familiar for anyone who's a fan of the opening scenes of "Lassie's Gift
of Love."

"Dream Builder" (12/16/72):

While working in arid Silverado Canyon at the far end of the Holden property, Keith
and Dale find an elderly Chicano man digging a well and making bricks. His mule Paco,
he finally tells Keith via Andy, can find water and he has scented it there. While the
others are skeptical, Andy believes in the man's dream enough to help him work. In the
meantime, can Lassie befriend a grumpy Paco? Lane: Stuart Lee. Andy: Mark Miranda. Julio
Vejar: Rodolfo Hoyes.
 Note: We are visibly back at Vasquez Rocks for this
episode. The intercut scenes of Lassie and the prairie dogs are from "Perils of the
Prairie."

"Tell It to the Birds" (01/06/73):

A Native American man who has fed and befriended wild birds comes to the aid of
Lassie after she's caught in a steel trap; his birds have led him to her. As Lassie
grows well, she is able to return the favor when her rescuer is knocked unconscious
and a fire starts in his cabin. Meanwhile, Keith and Dale relentlessly search for
the collie. Chief Locagoan: Henry Wilcoxon.
 Note: The birds look like some type of small dove.

"The Visitor" (01/13/73):

One blustery day Lassie and Willy fish a small furry dog from the creek in front
of the house; while making him welcome the family notices the dog is afraid of everything,
including ducks in the pond, horses, and even crickets. Lassie tries to acclimate him to
country living, but can he cope when she's trapped under a fallen tree branch? Andy: Mark
Miranda. Willy; Radames Pera. Phil Craig: Fred Holliday. Molly Craig: Erin Murphy.
 Trivia: The foundling's name is "Muffin."
 Note: Muffin is played by Higgins, who for many years played
Betty Jo's little dog in Petticoat Junction and was trained by Frank Inn, who for
many years worked with Rudd Weatherwax (in Son of Lassie, it's Frank Inn, not Peter
Lawford, that you see jump from the bridge with Laddie in his arms). (Higgins was known
simply as "Dog" on Petticoat Junction.) A year after this episode aired, Higgins,
now age 15, would rocket to fame in a low-budget, highly-acclaimed film entitled
Benji, and he took that name for the rest of his life; his daughter then became
the new "Benji." And if the little girl playing Molly looked familiar, she was: Erin
Murphy (along with her twin sister Diane when the girls were both younger) played Tabitha
Stephens on the long-running comedy Bewitched.
 Additional Note: In his 2017 book, Four Feet to Fame,
Bob Weatherwax's book about his father Rudd and Lassie, Bob stated that this was the final
episode filmed, and in this episode only, Lassie is played by Bob's dog Silver, one of the
two collies who had played the role of "Dog" in the John Wayne film Big Jake.

"Challenge of the Mountain" part 1 (01/27/73):

When Dale's home-made radio controlled airplane loses contact with the receiver
and flies off toward Pine Lake and Boulder Mountain, he saddles up Midnight and he and
Lassie take chase. After camping overnight, they are successful finding the plane at the
edge of a ravine, but when Dale reaches for it, a rattlesnake alertsand he falls
back down the cliff. Midnight trained by Robert Davenport.

"Challenge of the Mountain" part 2 (02/03/73):

Dale is bruised and concussed by his fall, and Lassie injured by falling rocks, so
the collie chews Midnight's hobble through and sends him back to the ranch while she
defends an unconscious Dale from the vultures who have begun keeping an increasingly
bolder watch on his body. Midnight trained by Robert Davenport.
 Note: There's a teeny blooper just as Keith gathers
Lassie up in his arms; a cut to a concerned Midnight is shown. Midnight is already
bridled and saddled with Dale on his back, but in the cut Midnight has no headstall on
at all. Opening narration by Bonita Granville Wrather.

"Legend of the Coyote" (02/10/73):

Lassie appoints herself official guardian of a shaggy stray dog's puppies who are
living in the Holden barn, and when a coyote steals one of the puppies, she's not far
behind with Keith and Dale in tow. But the hunt becomes an object lesson about the
sanctity of life for a sheep rancher whose lambs are being killed and his son.
Rancher: Garry Walberg. Son: Christopher Cain.
 Note: What's the timeframe on this? The dog gives birth
to pups and then in the next scene it's two weeks later. The spring Lassie leads Keith
and Dale through will show up again in "The Dawning."

"Horsenappers" (02/17/73):

Two bumbling horse thieves steal Midnight out of the Holden corral one night, but Lassie follows them to an old ghost town where they have stashed the stallion and three other horses, prepared to sell them to a dealer named "Al." Lassie hides in the hay until Harley leaves and then has Midnight kick his way out of the stable and lead the horses to the road, where they find Keith and Dale looking for them. Frank (Francis): Iggie Wolfington. Harley: Robert Easton. Hose: Richard Hale. (I think it's "Hose." They said his name three times and that's what it sounded like. It could be "Mose," perhaps.)
 Note: If I had to name the worst Lassie episode ever made, I'd nominate this one. It was supposed to be a comedy, with Harley apparently taking a vacation from his permanent job as village idiot. I can't even believe Schaefer and Freiwald wrote this one (credits say "from a story by Joanne Court," but Court was better than this as well. Having finally seen it again in 2015, my opinion hasn't changed.)

"A Joyous Sound" part 1 (02/24/73):

A surgeon gives Lucy and her mother hope that she may hear again after
surgery, so Keith and Lassie accompany Elaine and her daughter to Los Angeles
for the operation. But when Lassie tries to help a toddler, she is accused of
attacking the child and is chased away from the hospital. Dr. Robbins: John Lasell.

"A Joyous Sound" part 2 (03/03/73):

Lassie escapes from the laundry van where she took refuge from being chased
and is plunged into the tumult of the city. Meanwhile, Lucy emerges from
surgery successfully, but after a fruitless search, Keith wonders what to
tell her. Dr. Robbins: John Lasell. Man With Yorkshire Terrier: Jon Lormer.
 Note: Lucy does not appear in this story at all.
Lormer played Silas Huff the postman in the Timmy episodes. I'm not sure where
Lucy's hospital was located, but Lassie emerges from the laundry van on Berendo
Street, which is north of I-10 and west of I-110. The downtown shopping area she
walks is on Hill Street, which Google Maps tells me is a long street, so she is
east and possibly northeast of her previous location on Berendo. Next she seems
to be at Los Angeles International, and therefore heads north following the
coastline. I didn't see an Army ordnance range on the map, but that may have been
fictional, or the base may be closed by now. I was nostalgic noticing in one of the
night scenes a J.J. Newberry five-and-ten store; this was one of my favorite
stores as a child, but the Providence branch closed in 1968. There was a store in
Newport, RI, for a long time into the 1970s.

"A Joyous Sound" part 3 (03/10/73):

Lassie, after a narrow escape on a firing range, befriends two young men
who have been camping at the beach in their van. While they tend the injured
collie, Lucy, now returned home, prays for two miracles: that her hearingand
Lassiewill return. Dr. Robbins: John Lasell. Dark-Haired Surfer: Kevin
Brodie. Jim (Curly-Haired Surfer): Jay North.

Australian Lassie_Chat member Sharon Turner has written this detailed synopis of "A Joyous Sound." Since it's been edited into a movie and probably won't turn up on the rerun circuit any time soon, I'm including it here. I saw this in separate parts recently and can confirm where the parts end now.

Part 1

For the first ten minutes Lassie is in the bush with wild animals, where she saves a cacomistle from being attacked by a bobcat. Lassie looks at other bush animals, then comes across a gray fox (with a black tipped tail). Lassie circles to the left around a bush, barking, urging the gray fox to follow her. She succeeds. Lassie sees a nest of eggs with the mother bird nearby. An owl hoots. There are two chicks in the nest. The mother bird goes in a burrow in the ground and comes out the other end.

A black-footed ferret appears, going to the nest of eggs. Lassie scares it off, then picks up the nest gently and the hen-like bird, which bobs its head back and forth as it walks on the ground, follows Lassie to some rocks, where she lays the nest down in a safer place. The bird goes to the nest gratefully.

Lassie arrives at the Holden ranch just as a car arrives and Lucy Baker and her mother Elaine get out. Lucy says Carl is almost fully recovered from his heart operation [Elderly Carl Birkholm had a heart attack in the episode "Vigil of the Stork" lmy], and will be able to come home. She is speaking to Keith Holden, who is grooming his palomino horse. Lassie barks.

"Speaking of favorites..." Elaine points Lassie out to Lucy.

"Lassie!" Lucy cries out with joy and runs to the bridge where Lassie meets her and gives some playful woofs. Keith lets the palomino horse loose in a paddock.

While Lassie and Lucy go off on their own, Elaine tells Keith a doctor referred Lucy to an otologist in Los Angeles for some hearing tests. She is unsure whether to do it. She hasn't told Lucy yet. Keith reassures her about Lucy's courage and dignity and that she's entitled to a chance to hear again. Elaine says she'll arrange for the tests as soon as possible.

Lassie and Lucy are sitting under a tree in a paddock. Lassie hears a pigeon and squirrel. Lucy longs to hear birds, wind, and most of all, Lassie.

They go to the city of Los Angeles, Lassie sitting in the back seat with Lucy. Lucy looks at the tall buildings and Lassie licks her face.

The station wagon arrives at the hospital. Lassie whines. "I'll be all right, Lassie," Lucy reassures her. Lassie has to stay in the car until Keith comes back for her.

Elaine is given papers to fill in while Lucy has the tests. Elaine sits in the patio outside while Keith goes to get Lassie out of the car so she can wait with them.

The doctor, Dr. Robins, takes Lucy to an audiologist, Mrs. Shirley. She tells Lucy not to worry, it wouldn't hurt a bit. She sits at a table with controls on it and Dr. Robins opens the door to an enclosed room with a window. He puts headphones on Lucy and explains about the tests. The audiologist will conduct an air conduction test and a bone conduction test. Lucy is to raise her hand if she hears anything.

Elaine, Keith and Lassie are on the patio. Waiting is hard for Elaine.

Lucy hears a high pitch with the air conduction test. Next is the bone conduction test. Lucy thinks of being able to hear, especially Lassie. Suddenly she hears a high sound and raises her hand.

Mrs. Shirley tells Dr. Robins the air conduction test was on average 70-80 decibels, while the bone conduction test was better at 130 decibels. It was the same for both ears. Dr. Robins told Lucy there was a chance, a good chance.

Using a diagram of the ear, Dr. Robins shows Elaine and Keith that Lucy has conductive deafness due to a bone disease of the middle ear (otosclerosis?). He could operate the next day, and Lucy should check in at 7 o'clock that night. Lucy nods to her mother and Elaine agrees. Lucy could go home the day after the operation.

At the hotel down the street Lucy gets ready to go. She stands at the window and prays silently, then picks up her suitcase and they all go out the door.

Lucy is wheeled into surgery. Keith gets coffee for Elaine inside. Lassie is out on the patio. She looks into the empty lobby, then goes out the gate to the front grassed area. She stops before the footpath and looks across the road. A toddler is in a pram with a toy. The phone rings inside and his mother goes in to answer it. The boy throws the toy and tried to wheel himself towards it, then reachs his hand down, though he is some way off from the fallen toy. Lassie runs over the road, picks the toy up and takes it to the pram, dropping it onto it. The boy starts to cry and his mother looks out. She shoos Lassie away, thinking that she had attacked her son.

A woman with a broom appears threateningly at the footpath, and two boys passing by look on with interest. One throws his baseball mitt at Lassie. She runs off. The woman goes off to call animal control, while the boys rush after Lassie. Lassie jumps into a van with the words "Motor Industrial Laundry Service" on the side to escape from the boys. The van drives off.

Part 2

The laundry truck stops in an undercover carpark to pick up more laundry. As the man opened the back doors, Lassie streaks out and runs down the winding road leading out of the carpark, narrowly missing several incoming cars.

Lassie looks around, lost, at the big buildings. She wanders the streets, looking at people to see if she recognizes anyone.

Dr. Robins tells Elaine Baker that Lucy is in recovery. Keith goes to the lobby to wait, but when he sees Lassie isn't in the patio he goes outside to look for her. Keith goes out the front and calls for Lassie, but sees no sign of her. He walks down the street.

Keith tells Elaine that Lassie is lost: he went around the block twice but saw no sign of her. He takes Elaine back to the hotel and makes some calls.

Lassie walks out of the city centre and hesitantly tries to cross the road, but she quickly backs off as a motorbike zooms past close to the curb.

Keith and Elaine are talking in a hotel room. He tells her to give the excuse to Lucy that he has to rush back to the ranch on emergency business, and took Lassie with him. Elaine agrees and asks him what he'll do. Keith said he'll make some more calls and look around some more. Elaine will hire a car and drive home with Lucy that way. Keith pours a drink of water and looks out of the window. The camera zooms up to a sign near the top of a building: "Occidental Center."

It is nighttime. We go from seeing headlights to a lamplight. Lassie walks to a water fountain and drinks, then jumps down from the ledge and lies down next to a seat to sleep (the closeup shows her head on the left of her paws, then the next scene, which pans away to look at the city, her head is between her paws).

At hospital Dr. Robins tells Elaine that Lucy is ready to go home (we don't see Lucy here, last time she was seen was going through doors on a trolley just before surgery; next time see her is at home). Dr. Robins says he will stop in the middle of the afternoon on Friday to take the packing out of Lucy's ears. He is driving to San Francisco for a medical conference at the weekend. He asks about Lassie but there is still no news. Elaine hopes they can keep it from Lucy until they know for sure if she is really gone. Elaine goes into Lucy's room, number 107, and Dr. Robins pauses reflectively with a somber expression on his face.

Keith stops the car at a park and asks an elderly man who has a Yorkshire terrier in his lap if he had seen a collie. The man hasn't.

Keith goes back to the ranch in the station wagon. There's no sign of Lassie. He watches an eagle flying overhead, which cuts to a plane flying overhead and landing at the airport. Lassie sees boys playing baseball. Another plane comes over, and Lassie whines. The boys block their ears to the loud noise of the plane, and Lassie shakes her head and runs off.

Down the rocks to the beach Lassie runs, then along the beach sand. She walks along the shore. Going up a rocky hill from the beach, Lassie reaches a barbed wire fence and goes past a sign that says "Restricted Area. US Army Ordinance Target Range". Men are getting ready to fire guns on a range. As they shoot, Lassie runs across past the targets.

It's Friday afternoon. Dr. Robins takes the packing out of Lucy's ears and checks them. Lucy can't hear, but he reminds her that there is still some swelling and it may be a few days before she knows. Lucy is confident that she will hear again.

Keith arrives at the Baker ranch on his palomino. He knocks on the door. Lucy is doing the washing up. Her mother answers the door and lets him in. Lucy looks around to see where her mother went, then goes into the other room and sees Keith. She greets him and asks "Didn't you bring Lassie?" She knows something is wrong. "That's what you came to tell me, isn't it? I guess I knew something was wrong when Mom and I left Los Angeles and when you didn't come to visit."

Lucy is worried, but she knows Lassie will come home again.

That night Lucy prays that Lassie will come home safely.

On the side of the highway, Lassie comes across a van. She hears a radio and sees two young men looking out to sea. One is tossing rocks. Lassie whines and limps on her right front paw. She drops to the ground, hoping to be noticed. The boys come to her and see her hurt paw. One of them gets the first aid kit from the van. They give her something to eat afterwards.

When they're ready to go on, the boys guess it's up to her if she wants to go with them. They're heading north. They call her "Beauty." Lassie looks at the road, and thinks they are going in the right direction, so she hops in the back.

One of the boys has a sleep in the back of the van (yawns, "Man, I'm beat!") while the other drives. Come night he stops the van by the side of the road. He goes in the back, accidentally bumping two dials on the gas stove. Lassie whines as he turns off the light.

Lassie smells the gas and whines. She sniffs the stove, puts her paws up and looks at the top. She confirms danger! Lassie barks at the boys. The one who'd driven wakes, groggy, turns on the light, turns the stove off, and shakes his pal. He opens the door. He and Lassie burst out, then he pulls his coughing friend out into the fresh air. His friend asks what happened? The propane burner was on. Lassie had saved their lives. They gave her a little favour and she returned it with a big one.

Driving on the highway, Lassie is sitting between the boys in the front. Recognizing the country out the window, Lassie barks. The van turns off the road. One boy says she thinks we're heading in the wrong direction for her. They let her out and Lassie leaves, barking her thanks. They guess she's going to a place, called Home.

Lassie runs across a field, across a creek, through the woods, across more fields and through more trees. She sees animals. She's near home.

Lucy is under a pine tree. She looks at the pretty pink flower, and sees the squirrel in the tree, and a bird in the sky. Then she concentrates hard. Was that a sound? Suddenly she could hear the squirrel, the birds twittering, and the wind in the leaves. And also...Lassie's bark! Lucy cries out with utter joy. "Lassie!" and runs across the field towards her.

"Lassie, oh Lassie!" Lucy hugs Lassie, overwhelmed that she could hear and that Lassie had come back!

The last scene we see is Lucy and Lassie running across the field together.

End

Only two credits are included: Directed by Jack Wrather, Jack B. Hively, and Dick Moder; written by Robert Schaefer and Eric Freiwald.

Lucy is intriguedbut a little saddened as wellby a footloose young
man whose only home, which he shares with his small dog Smoky, is the open road. While
he does chores at the Baker homestead to earn traveling money, Lucy exchanges
lessons about home and love for guitar instruction. Elaine Baker: Jay W. McIntosh.
Johnny Piper: Randy Boone.
 Trivia: The Baker cow is named Suzie, and is
expecting a calf. Lassie is staying with the Bakers while the Holdens are at a rodeo.
 Note: Suzie, a Jersey cow, gives birth to a Hereford calf.
Odd. You would have thought the Bakers would have wanted another milking cow.

"The Dawning" (03/24/73):

Lassie decides against accompanying Keith and Dale on their pasture work and
instead visits the Baker farm to see how the new calf is doing. As she is leaving, the
calf breaks out of the barn in search of its new friend and trots off into the countryside,
discovering nature good and badand stalked by a wolf.
 Note: The scenes of Lassie climbing up on the rocks and
falling down after fighting with the wolf are from an earlier filmed episode, as it is
"Mire" as Lassie, rather than his son who starred in these episodes. Several classic
Lassie tropes in this final episode of the series: livestock in danger, skunks and
squirrels, Lassie fighting a wolf who's really a dyed German Shepherd, what looks like
Vasquez Rocks in a couple of scenes, and an amusing reactive sneeze when Keith asks
"What kinda trouble could a calf that size get into?" The final pan out is of Lassie lying
down on the porch, home forever in our hearts.